Give that you could get essentially all the options in a 535i as you would in a 550i (except the engine itself), why would anyone get a 550i now and pay more? For a few $$ thousands, you can boost the I6 to equal or better engine power.

Somebody enlighten me. :)

I still might... You cant get all the options the 550 has on the 535... and I like the V8... I dunno its hard to say... I havent spec'ed one out but how much difference is a nicely equipped 550 compared to the same equipped 535?

One concern might be reliability and longevity of the I6 with the added boost.

About 7 - 10 k. The difference is about 60hp. You don't need too much extra boost to make the TT I6 output equal to the V8.

That would be my concern... it would be a headache if you were the unlucky one that the increased boost blew a seal on the engine. Sure theres thousands of people who did it.. but knowing my luck I'm the one that get the blown engine and will be a pain to fight through warranty.

There I just went on bmwusa and built 2 identical speced 535 and 550. Difference? $8,100

Minus the M-Tech Kit... which is say... $2500 = $5,600 difference just for the engine... Oh...

Wheels: say you can get a set of #172 for $1000 after trade in of the #124s difference now is $4,600 one more thing... does the 550 have slightly larger brakes than the 535?

Brakes? $whatever the cost...


So really... the price difference between the 535 and the 550 is about $4K - $5K.

I'll vote for the 550 if this was the case.

Attachment 43580 Attachment 43581

And now... to chip it... $1200. Difference is down to $3,400 but at the risk of future problems and reliability... Ya... its been tested... etc etc... sure sure. short term reliability has been tested... how long as the 335 been out? not that long as as I can recall...


$3,400 to have full blown warranty backed up by BMW no risk no hassle... no wasting time... you get the perfect car right from the factory... I'll take the 550.

honestly if i had to pick the between the 2 if i were buying, im with eric. id pick the 550, especially after seeing some that belong to members. :thumbsup:

Since that?s simply not true, the question really isn?t terribly valid. The 550i, as befits the top of the range, has options unique to that model.

:ermm: Grrr.... I just realized that the 550i costs 85,000 USD in Sweden. And that's without options... :doh: (OK, partly due to the current exchange rate, but still)

No wonder you all drive 550's over there! ^_^

My vote is for the 535i. The 550i is only about 1 second faster from 0-60, it is more costly in insurance rates and it burns more fuel, thus costing you even more in the long run. Who will argue the fact that when it's time to sell your 550i, it will be much more difficult to sell than a 535i after a couple of years of use. I like the fact that in colder regions, you can have the optional XI available for the 535i, but not in the 550i.

You also have to remember that we all lost our minds when the e39 540i V8 was pushing 282hp and now we have a I6 twin turbo that is pushing more hp's w/ better fuel economy.

However, don't get me wrong. When I get dusted off by an Infiniti G37, Audi TT, Mercedes-Benz E500 or even those "pocket rockets", I am going to look back at my posting and say "what the hell was I smoking when I wrote that"?

I'm a Fan of the v8.

Even my boosted cars/trucks are v8's with the exception of my Mini which is a boosted 4cyl :)